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May 24, 2011

The most frequent design question that I am asked is "What color should I paint my walls?". So often, the first challenge I am faced with tackling upon beginning a design project is bad wall color. Generally the walls are some shade of yellow, often what I like to refer to as suntan pantyhose. Other times, I'm faced with that super stylish "Tuscan inspired" burnt red or textured wall that a designer before me convinced my client was the way to go. It's not...I assure you.

Paint is the fastest and least expensive way to create change, drama and impact in your space. You can use paint to simply create a style statement with your choice of color, introduce texture with a treatment such as Venetian plaster or create design such as bold horizontal stripes as I discussed in my last post...the list goes on and on.

Since selecting a palette of paint colors is what people seem to find so challenging, I wanted to address the issue and share my personal faves in a series of posts. In this post, I have included my favorite neutrals from pale cream to dark and dramatic.

Restoration Hardware Paint Color: Chocolate Hands down﻿ the best chocolate brown paint color out there. So gorgeous and fabulous with Ben Moore Super White Trim. Get daring and paint your ceiling chocolate too and you will thank me. If you are afraid to paint an entire living room or dining room, paint your Powder Room walls and ceiling too. Instant drama.

Restoration Hardware Paint Color: Chocolate

Restoration Hardware Chocolate paint in a dining room we designed.

C2 Paint Color: Saddle. Saddle is a gorgeous deep taupe. C2 Paint has the most unique shades. The center of this wall in former studio, below, is painted Saddle.

C2 Paint: Saddle

Sherwinn Williams Paint Color: Mink. The name makes me love this color even more. Sort of gray, sort of taupe, a touch of purple...whatever...it's fabulous.

Sherwinn Williams Paint Color: Mink

Sherwinn Williams Paint Color: Mink in a home we designed.

Restoration Hardware Paint Color: Graphite. We recently discovered this beautiful shade of gray and used it in a Master Bedroom project we recently featured on the blog.

Restoration Hardware Paint Color: Graphite

Rachel Hazelton is an Interior Designer from Middleton, MA with design projects in Andover, MA, North Andover, MA, Lynnfield, MA, Boxford, MA, Topsfield, MA, Boston's North Shore and throughout New England.

May 18, 2011

Thanks to a twenty-four hour stomach bug and a marathon of episodes on the E channel, I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I'm hooked on watching Khloe and Lamar. Kloe Kardashian's California home is fabulous, from the chocolate tiles on her fireplaces to the chevron pattern chair in her office. This truly is an illness. I can't watch television or movies without seeing all the design details. Seriously though, watch it. You'll love her kitchen and want to run out and stain your kitchen cabinets espresso....I just might. I especially love the black chocolate and white horizontal striped wall in her breakfast nook. I am madly in love with ﻿horizontal stripes in decor. We just designed and installed a gray and cream horizontal stripe drapery paired with a gauzy sparkle linen sheer in a Master Bath we had designed for a client. A horizontal stripe is unexpected and adds style and drama to a space.

Rachel Hazelton is an Interior Designer from Middleton, MA with design projects in Andover, MA, North Andover, MA, Lynnfield, MA, Boxford, MA, Topsfield, MA, Boston's North Shore and throughout New England.

May 13, 2011

Those of you who know me, probably have heard me mention my dear friend and designer, Todd. At sixty..plus some years, he is still as he says, "Making America beautiful." with his exceptional design talent. In addition to his immpeccable taste, Todd is also known for his sharp witt and even sharper tongue. I was thinking of him today while working on a project that includes upholstery specified in black matte cotton velvet. I'll never forget the apartment he designed for a client in Manhattan with the most chic black kitchen and the home he designed in all natural linen and black...pure elegance and timeless style. In addition, I couldn't help but recall that he referred to me and my other female design associates as "The Daughters of Darkness"...I'll accept that title kindly.

When it comes to black, everyone will wear it but a select few have enough style to live in it. It reminds me of Chanel, pure understated elegance. No surprise, designer, Kelly Hoppen was photographed wearing a black dress in a room she designed with black on the cover of her book.

Rachel Hazelton is an Interior Designer from Middleton, MA with design projects in Andover, MA, North Andover, MA, Lynnfield, MA, Boxford, MA, Topsfield, MA, Boston's North Shore and throughout New England.

May 11, 2011

Since designing FRINGE Boutique last year, we have received so many requests from clients to incorporate purple in their design. Of course, being in the business of fashion, Kristen Gazda, owner of FRINGE had no hesitation to add pops of deep periwinkle into her boutique's black and white decor we designed for her. Purple is so versatile, from the smokey shades of gray purple we used to cuff our sheer drapery for a client's space featured below to the vibrant amethyst silk lampshades that highlight the grasscloth we used in another client's Master Bedroom below.

Purple can be spotted at the Boston Design Center at luxury showrooms such as Janus et Cie, Webster and Company, Lee Jofa's new Suzanne Rheinstein collection and Ralph Lauren. Shades of purple are of course on my inspiration board for 2011 along with these fabulous Louboutin's.

Rachel Hazelton is an Interior Designer from Middleton, MA with design projects in Andover, MA, North Andover, MA, Lynnfield, MA, Boxford, MA, Topsfield, MA, Boston's North Shore and throughout New England.